Sanya, Hainan Province, January 31, 2019. (Photo: Xinhua)

Sanya, a resort coastal city at the southern tip of South China's Hainan island, will explore establishing tax policies and legal systems compatible with the China (Hainan) Free Trade Zone and Free Trade Port with Chinese characteristics, to attract more overseas Chinese to make investment, work and live in Sanya, according to the city's top official.

Sanya welcomes overseas Chinese from all over the world to gather to jointly build the Hainan Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and free trade port, and share development opportunities in Hainan, said Tong Daochi, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee and secretary of the CPC Sanya Municipal Committee.

He made the remarks on Saturday when meeting representatives of the 2019 Sanya Conference on Overseas Chinese Investment, Innovation and Pioneering, which closed on Sunday.

Tong said Hainan has attracted 3.9 million overseas Chinese who have made an important contribution to social and economic development over the years.

"And now Hainan needs more support from the overseas Chinese community, as it is making every effort to build a free trade zone and free trade port," Tong said.

He added that in line with the strategic positioning of the central government, Sanya is accelerating the development of tourism, the modern service industry and high-tech industries and actively building the city as a benchmark for the Hainan FTZ.

He noted Sanya is creating a legal, internationalized and convenient business environment and upgrading local infrastructure. It also will explore the establishment of tax policies and legal systems that are appropriate to the FTZ and free trade port to attract more overseas Chinese to make investment in Sanya, and ensure they enjoy work and life in the tropical city as well.

"Hainan has unique environmental and policy advantages, and it is also an important window for China to open to the outside world," said Dhanin Chearavanont, chairman of Chia Tai Group and director of the China Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Association, in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony.

He suggested that Hainan introduce more open, complete and innovative modern laws, regulations and investment policies to attract more world-class talents to innovate and start up businesses in Hainan.

He said as one of the first overseas-funded enterprises to enter Hainan, Chia Tai Group will cooperate more extensively with Sanya in the field of biotechnology research and development.

Chain-ing Thomas Shih, professor and founder of Taiwan BioSolultion Co Ltd, said there is a huge space for cooperation in a number of fields, especially agriculture, between Hainan and Taiwan. He expects in-depth cooperation in farm produce processing, services and R&D between Hainan and Taiwan companies.

The four-day conference attracted more than 1,000 overseas Hainan business delegates, elites and representatives of well-known domestic enterprises.

They discussed a slew of topics, including young talent recruitment, Chinese wisdom on innovation and entrepreneurship, wealth management and modern finance, global medical equipment ecology, digital trade strategy, the aerospace industry, artificial intelligence and sci-tech innovation, and Hainan-Taiwan agricultural cooperation.

The conference also witnessed the signing of 10 projects, including a flower tourism demonstration park, an internet hospital highlighting artificial intelligence, a cruise port theme park, a demonstration base for Hainan-Taiwan tropical agriculture cooperation and a movie making project.

Since the central government announced plans in April last year to build Hainan into a pilot free trade zone and gradually explore building it into a free trade port with Chinese characteristics, Sanya has signed strategic cooperation agreements on 300 projects with names like Merlin Entertainments, Thomas Cook, China Taiping Life Insurance, China Minmetals and COFCO, among many others.

A total of 29 Fortune Global 500-listed conglomerates have decided to launch businesses in Sanya, which is at the same latitude of 18 degrees north as Hawaii, and 23 corporations, including China Minmetals and Sunshine Insurance Group, have registered their regional or business section headquarters in the tropical city, according to the local government.